Söder Castle

Söder's origins date back to the Middle Ages, when a small castle with an estate stood here, belonging to the Lords of Bortfeld. After this family died out in 1686, the property was enfeoffed to a branch of the Brabeck family in 1690. Jobst Edmund von Brabeck had the old castle demolished in 1740 and the current castle built between 1741 and 1742. His descendant Friedrich Moritz von Brabeck transformed the estate over several years into a residence, whose current form was completed in 1791 with the construction of the access bridge, the entrance gate, and two pavilions. He also laid out an English-style castle park and built an art collection, which made the castle a cultural center of the Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim from 1788. A fire in 1845 damaged the castle, but it was rebuilt by 1848.